2. 2
Ung Kraft (Young Power) has joined forces with
Kulturhuset Ängelen to hold a LAN party. Fifteen
or so children and adults have gathered. There’s
an air of expectation. Most of them haven’t tried
their hand at games before. And most of them
don’t automatically think of games as one of the
most natural ways to start programming and the
fact that there is a major shortage of program-
mers, both now and in the future.
Three-year-old Klara doesn’t hesitate. She sits
down, presses the button and exclaims – I’m
really good at this!
As well as the LAN party, there has been a
CoderDojo session for girls, programming
sessions for adults and children, and also pro-
gramming courses and translated presentations
in several languages for new arrivals, chances
to try technical gadgets like Arduino and classic
drop-ins. A host of activities to enable everyone
to improve their knowledge and ability according
to their own preferences and needs.
For the fifth year in a row, the Digidel Network is
organising Get Online Week in Sweden. This year
we set a new Swedish record! No fewer than 121
organisations registered and took part! There
have been initiatives all over Sweden, in small
towns, in the countryside and in the big cities. In
municipalities, libraries, study associations,
schools, companies and various organisations.
Get Online Week takes place in March all over
Europe, attracting very large numbers of par-
ticipants. It provides a sense of community that
crosses national borders involving one of the
most important democratic issues of our time –
digital inclusion. It is about being able to make the
most of the opportunities offered by digitisation.
At present about half of all Swedes do not feel
digitally included, while at the same time we
know that 90% of jobs require digital compe-
tence. That’s why this is so important. To get a
job, to retain our jobs and to be able to play a full
role in our digitised society. But also to be able to
make our voices heard.
The activity attracted a total of 3089 people who
wanted to learn more. The campaign generated
media attention, in newspapers, on the radio,
in blogs and in social media. We were active via
social channels such as Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram, and everyone was keen to share their
experiences with one another during the week!
In this report you can read selected highlights
from some of the hundreds of activities that took
place during Get Online Week 2015 in Sweden.
We still have major challenges ahead of us, but
when we met three-year-old Klara, we were sure
of one thing:
The future looks SO bright :)
Linda Sandberg, Project Leader,
Get Online Week Sweden
linda@copylinda.se
Twitter: @Copylinda
Claes-Olof Olsson, Head of Operations,
Föreningen Sambruk
claes-olof.olsson@sambruk.se
Twitter: @Sambruk_se
At a LAN party during
Get Online Week in
Katrineholm
3. 3
Glimpses of the
participants during
Get Online Week
FAGERSTA LIBRARY
One idea for the future is to take the presenta-
tion to places where many of those in our target
group are, for example in a home for the elderly
or at a school. Then people don’t need to “make
their own way” to the library, but we go to them
instead.
One thing that stood out was that those attending
included both young and old, in previous years
there were only pensioners.
Andreas Pettersson, IT Librarian, Fagersta
Library
MÖNSTERÅS LIBRARY
The library in Mönsterås also did a little extra
advertising about the chance to “Book a librar-
ian”. This is a free service that is always available
at the library, but it attracted a little bit of extra
attention in connection with Get Online Week. We
were asked about how an iPad works by potential
buyers who wanted to take a closer look at how a
tabletcanbeusedbeforetheyactuallyboughtone.
Caroline Danielsson, Mönsterås Library
LERUM LIBRARY
We had a technology drop-in for general technol-
ogy questions on Monday and Thursday, and we
offered “Technical assistance in simple Swedish”
at the same time as the Red Cross held its lan-
guage café in the library.
Johanna Nord, IT Librarian
Learning Sector, Lerum Library
OPEN KNOWLEDGE SWEDEN
There is huge potential to use Digital Data
and Open Data to improve the lives of citizens,
especially in increasing the transparency and
accountability of governments. However, many
of the individuals who are closest to the prob-
lems currently lack both the skills to use data
effectively and awareness of the potential of data
for their work.
School of Data, as a part of Open Knowledge
Sweden, aims to address this need by teaching
citizens how to use data to find evidence, create
compelling visualizations and to tell stories to
present their arguments in a more effective way.
4. 4
Our mission is to empower the citizens and
organizations who wish to use data ‘for good’,
with the skills they need. So during Get Online
Week 2015 we had a presentation about how digi-
tal data can empower citizens.
We taught participants, who were mainly elderly
citizens, fundamentals of creating value from
digital data, by using free online tools. The data
used in the presentation was open data that is
accessible for anyone who gets online and can
use the Internet. We received very positive feed-
back and a great interest from the audience.
In order to reach the participants who were less
likely to be online and get them to engage and
become involved in online life, we used local
organizations for seniors and pensioners to
send out invitations and attract the participants.
Eventually, 27 individuals attended the presen-
tation and were asked to fill in the survey at the
end.
Best regards,
Max Mohammadhassan Mohammadi,
Open Knowledge Sweden
GOTLAND LIBRARY
223 people took part in Get Online Week
Two of the visitors, a man aged 65 and a woman
aged 85, spoke to everyone about the need to be
given information about digital services and
offerings. He had worked with computers dur-
ing his professional life, but still felt excluded
as new products and service were appearing all
the time. He felt that the library was the obvi-
ous place to arrange opportunities for people to
meet and seek assistance. She felt extremely
discriminated against and excluded from soci-
ety because of digitisation. She had a long list
of examples of when she had been unable to
access services because she did not master the
technology.
Launch of CoderDojo for girls. Almedalen Library.
They were able to learn how to programme
and create simple games. The coding school
attracted 11 participants, and will continue with
another five sessions during the spring.
Meet the Swedish Tax Agency - Read your official
post digitally and How to submit your tax return
electronically
These meetings were aimed at people who want
to reduce paperwork and at the same time pre-
vent unauthorised access to personal post.
The Tax Agency provided information about the
My Messages service – about how citizens can
receive their post digitally instead of on paper.
The service is managed and developed by
the Tax Agency in collaboration with the
Public Employment Service, the Companies
Registration Office, the Pensions Agency, the
Agency for Economic and Regional Growth and
the Transport Agency. The Tax Agency also
provided information about tax returns. About
submitting a return electronically being quick,
simple and secure. About citizens being able
to submit a return electronically by phone, text
message, the Tax Agency’s app or e-service.
Digitisation and the Swedish Tax Agency’s cus-
tomer meeting. Large presentation featuring the
Swedish Tax Agency. Almedalen Library
Thanks for this time, it was great fun!
Best regards,
Åsa Ingmansson, Chief Librarian
5. 5
SOLLEFTEÅ
The programme for Get Online Week 2015 at
Sollefteå Library was organised by staff. It fea-
tured “Swedish online – Marianne talks about
how you can practise Swedish yourself in text,
image and sound,” “Yes, but stay safe! – Jonas
talks about computer and Internet security, pass-
words and spam” and “Free and legal – Jonas
talks about free images and programs, Creative
Commons and Open Source”.
Best regards,
Jonas Nilsson
Sollefteå Library
LEKSAND LIBRARY
The week started with a successful “Adult Hack”,
where adults learned the basic of programming
in a light-hearted way. The room was filled with
laughter as the cat in Scratch miaowed, and
attendees also enjoyed recording their own
sounds. Everyone was pleased to have suc-
ceeded in creating a game. The best comment
was: “There’ll be plenty more hits. I want to learn
more!”
Best regards,
Linda Sävhammar
Librarian, Leksand Library
KÖPING CITY LIBRARY
Köping City Library joined forces with ABF
(Workers’ Educational Association) and Folk-
universitet to offer a number of activities during
the week. ABF explained and presented the three
main systems in the tablet market, and offered
advice on what you need as a private individual
to feel safe on the Internet. ABF also invited
the Köping e-Sport Association to explain what
e-sport is, the benefits and drawbacks of e-sport
and whether it is something that parents of young
people involved need to be worried about.
Folkuniversitet invited the “Junior Achievement”
company Tech4All to talk about and answer
questions about smartphones (this presentation
was cancelled due to illness). The library showed
how to use the library’s website and its digital
services such as the online catalogue, databases
and e-books.
Best regards,
Johanna Stewart
Librarian, Köping City Library
KATRINEHOLM MUNICIPALITY
During Get Online Week we offered lots of differ-
ent activities to increase digital inclusion among
both citizens and employees. Activities included
computer workshops, tips on useful apps, gene-
alogy, information for parents about how they
can maintain digital contact with their children’s
school (in several languages), information about
how to borrow e-books, an inspirational lecture
about social media, a children’s programming
session and LAN.
During the week we were visited by old people,
young people, children, parents and employees
of Katrineholm Municipality.
6. 6
We offered 19 activities during the week and
reached a total of 256 people.
It’s been an enjoyable and rewarding week, even
for those of us working on the various activities.
Regards,
Ann-Louise Törling, Web Editor, Library
HELSINGBORG LIBRARY
On Monday 23 March we offered assistance and
information with and about the library’s digital
services at two local libraries. We had a hand-
ful of participants, eight or so, at the library in
Ringstorp. There were far more at the library in
Rydebäck, where we also offered children and
parents the chance to try out children’s apps for
iPad and Android. There were 25 visitors in total
there.
On Thursday at the City Library we organised
an afternoon with the following content: as
mentioned earlier, there was a station offering
assistance and information with and about the
library’s digital services, and we also had two
different events for children and young people.
One for the younger ones at which we showed
them and let them try some children’s apps, and
one for slightly older ones at which we let them
produce their own creations and play on different
tablets.
We were also visited by BoostHBG, a trans-
media company within the City of Helsingborg,
who came along to present the new Oculus Rift
glasses. This was without a doubt the best-
attended event of the day. The total number of
visitors/participants during the afternoon was
about 60.
Regards,
Alex Bergdahl, Helsingborg City Library
FOLKBILDNING NET
The educational network Folkbildning Net held
a so-called Workspace with 30 participants. This
was a meeting of teachers from the country’s
folk high schools, who worked together to draw
up various kinds of digital resources, primarily
video films that can be used as support by par-
ticipants outside physical meetings.
Information about the Workspace event was
communicated via social media, and we will also
be publishing a web page containing reports on
the activities and digital resources that were
produced.
We informed those who took part at Workspace
about Get Online Week.
Best regards,
Lars-Göran Karlsson
Folkbildning Net/FSO,
Karlstad City Library
KARLSTAD CITY LIBRARY
During the week we offered information sessions
and workshops in three different subject areas.
The library’s e-services. For example, we pre-
sented Artikelsök (Article Search), and we
showed people how to read daily newspapers
from all over the world and how to search for and
renew loans in the library catalogue.
Popular online services to feel a greater sense
of digital inclusion, e.g. we showed people how
to use Skype, Spotify, Facebook, Instagram and
YouTube. We also showed them how to download
apps, and participants were able to test how tab-
lets work.
Social information online with associated online
7. 7
services to make everyday life easier for resi-
dents. E.g. bank ID, my healthcare contacts,
submitting a tax return online and also how to
find things online, e.g. phone numbers, maps and
addresses.
Evaluation from one of the participants:
“Thank you to the library!
It’s been a very interesting, rewarding week for
me, 70 years old and a beginner when it comes
to data processing. This has been a real boost!
A totally new world of opportunities has opened
up, and I’m astounded and amazed at all the new
things available from the digital world.”
Anna Eriksson
IT Librarian,
Karlstad City Library
NETPORT SCIENCE PARK, KARLSHAMN
24/5: The Internet of Things and learning – 27
participants met in a workshop format to dis-
cuss how the Internet of Things can accelerate
learning in schools and other learning situations.
The group with the idea that won the most votes
will have the chance to further develop their idea
during a day at the NetPort Science Park.
25/5 The Small Commission – The Internet of
Things – 23 participants. The Small Commission
serves as an advisory body for the region’s ReDA
work and aims to provide input into what the
eSociety of tomorrow will be like. During the
day, students researched how their lives could
be made easier using the Internet of Things.
Examples of things that could create a more
attractive eSociety included drones to do the
cleaning, clearing up, look after the house, etc.,
digital buses, dishwashers integrated into cup-
boards and connected skiing goggles.
After the meeting on 25 March it was clear
that the citizens of tomorrow do not want to do
the cleaning, so technical solutions need to be
invented here and be available in the market
within five years.
Sofie Andersson
Project Manager,
CeSam Blekinge for an attractive eSociety
DIGITAL SENIORS – 130 TOOK UP THE
CHALLENGE!
The Preventive Unit at the Central District
Administration, Gothenburg, wants to increase
curiosity and knowledge among senior citi-
zens. The organisation held workshops during
national Get Online Week in order to encourage
and stimulate digital inclusion. Offer of the week:
research and find out more about communica-
tion technology, bring along your tablet and get
up to date with us, or borrow one for a while at
the venue!
Members of the Central District Volunteers
offered support on e-services, smart everyday
apps and e-books. Senior citizens who want to
find out more about tablets can meet in smaller
groups to learn together with the support of
volunteers.
Our Fixers – security service, held a Drop-in
event with more of a focus on smart telephony,
with opportunities to simply ask questions and
8. 8
try products that can be adapted to meet the spe-
cific needs of each individual.
Workshops were held featuring Life Filming,
which aims to stimulate curiosity, quality of
life and inclusion using a tablet and a camera
function.
There was also the chance to meet Double
Robotics, also known as Roberta, a robot on
wheels controlled via a tablet or computer.
During the week, the Dementia Day Care Unit on
Glasmästaregatan had an opportunity to visit the
Meeting Place on Karl Gustavsgatan and take a
look at Chinese Health Gymnastics and Exercise
for Fun. We rounded off the week on Friday with a
public guided tour of the City Museum via a large
screen and a robot controlled directly by us.
SeniorNet invited people to try their hand at
genealogy, participants needed to book a time in
advance.
Catarina Rudman, Central District Volunteers,
City of Gothenburg
GRINDTORPSSKOLAN
Pupils from year groups 1-5 worked with
computers.
Year 1 pupils became acquainted with a site
known as the letter train (www.bokstavståget.
se). Year 3 pupils worked on various digital
Easter activities.
Year 4 and 5 pupils created their own game with
the aid of Scratch.
It’s all been great fun. My IT guy and I kept the
Learning Centre open longer than usual during
the week.
Everyone at the school knew that it was Get
Online Week, as we’d put up signs all over the
school.
Best regards,
Tülay Gurgun
Grindtorpsskolan Learning Centre
13. 13
TYRESÖ KOMMUN
TYRESÖ BIBLIOTEK
SENIORNET TYRESÖ
TIMRÅ BIBLIOTEK
STUDIEFRÄMJANDET ROBERTSFORS
STUDIEFRÄMJANDET UMEÅ
GRINDTORPSSKOLAN
NETPORT SCIENCE PARK
SENIORNET KALMAR
OPEN KNOWLEDGE FOUNDATION SWEDEN
FOLKUNIVERSITETET VARBERG
REGIONBIBLIOTEK ÖSTERGÖTLAND
BIBLIOTEKEN I SÖDERMÖRE KOMMUNDEL
KALMAR STADSBIBLIOTEK
FOLKBILDNINGSNÄTET
HAMMARÖ BIBLIOTEK
HAGFORS BIBLIOTEK
UPPSALA HEMGÅRD FYRISGÅRDEN
STUDIEFRÄMJANDET VÄSTMANLAND
ABF VÄSTERÅS
14. The Digidel Network is a non-hierarchical, independent
and democratic network that strives to achieve greater
digital inclusion in Sweden. Föreningen Sambruk organ-
ises Get Online Week in Sweden through the Digidel
Network.
Get Online Week is funded by .SE
(the Internet Infrastructure Foundation)
Facebook: facebook.com/getonlineweeksweden
Twitter: @digidel
